Lawn-trimmer.



No. 638,056. Patented Nov. 28, i899.- B. r. MAHTZ.

LAWN TRIMMER, v

(Application filed Oct. 11, 1898.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES {gaff 47 Ki? By UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

BENJAMIN F. MARTZ, OF GREENFIELD, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO HENRY HAHNE, OF SAME PLACE, AND WILLIAM J. BORREY, OF FAIR- MOUNT, INDIANA;

LAWN-TRIMMER.

eeeememen forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,056, dated November 28, 1899.

. Application filed October 11, 1898- Serial No. 693,235. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. MARTZ, a citizen of the United States,residing at Greenfield, in the county of Hancock and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Lawn-Trimmers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in lawn-trimmers, and has for its object to produce such a machine with but a single driving-wheel,which, besides performing all of the useful operations common to machines of this character now in general use, has in addition the very desirable property of being able to out to nearly the extreme edge of the machine, thus obviating the depressing of a'track in the grass, as is done by machines of the double-drive-wheel type.

With this and other objects in view myinvention consists in the novel details of construction and combination of parts, to be clearly described in the following specification and fully set forth in the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like characters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved lawn-trimmer complete. Fig.

0 2 is a central horizontal sectional view of the gearing thereof. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the drive-wheel; and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the disk, showing its inner side.

In the drawings,'7 denotes a l1andle-rod,hav-

ing a cross-bar 8 at one end and a pair of yoke-arms 6 at the other, through which an ordinary bolt 20 is secured,with a nut 13 threaded on its end. A hollow corrugated-tread drive-wheel 17 is journaled on the bolt 20 between the yoke-arms 6 and has a disk 5 loosely fitting in the opening in the side thereof and rigidly attached to one of the yokearms. A sleeve 19 is mounted on the bolt 20 between the drive-wheel 17 and the disk 5 for 5 the purpose of keeping said parts in their proper relative positions. A frame is secured to the trundle-wheel thus formed, and comprises the arm 9, connected to a yoke-arm 6, and a side piece 10, depending therefrom and terminating at its lower end in a runner 11,

which is connected with the disk 5 by means of a fixed blade 12. A gear-wheel 21 meshes with gear-teeth 18 on the inner surface of the drive-wheel rim and is provided with a hollow sleeve 26, which projects through and is journaled in a circular opening in the disk,near the periphery thereof. A number of ratchetteeth 27 are located within the sleeve 26 and are adapted to be engaged by a double pawl 24, carried in a slot 22 in the end of the shaft 14, which is journaled in the gear-wheel 21. This shaft 14 is journaled at one end in the side piece 10 of the frame and is provided near the other end with a shoulder 25, fitting against a cap 28, which covers the opening of the disk and its contents. At both ends of the shaft 14 are secured cross-arms 15, carryin g between them the cutter-blades 16.

When the machine as above described is pushed over the lawn, the serrated edge ofthe drive-wheel makes suflicient engagement to turn said drive-wheel on its axis, causing the gear-wheel'in mesh therewith to revolve at a comparatively high speed. During the forward movement of the drive-wheel the pawl 24 engages the ratchet-teeth of the gear-wheel 21, turning the shaft and blades 16 therewith and cutting the grass between said blades and the fixed blade 12; but on retracting the machine the pawl remains out of engagement with the ratchet-teeth, and so the shaft and blades are not affected.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a device of the character described, a yoke-shaped handle, a bolt secured across the arms thereof,a hollow drive-wheel mounted to revolve on the bolt and provided with an open side, a disk. rigidly secured on the bolt to close the open side of the drive-wheel, gear-teeth located around the inside of the drive-wheel rim, a gear-wheel meshing with the gear-teeth of the drive-wheel, a sleeve projecting from the gear-Wheel and journaled in an opening of the disk, ratchet-teeth on the inside of the sleeve, a cap covering the opening of the disk and adapted to confine the sleeve to its properposition, an angular guard attached to the handle, a fixed blade sup ported between the guard and disk, a, spincross-arms to travel close to the fixed blade; dle journaled through the guard, cap and substantially asdeseribed. gear-wheel, a shoulder on the spindle bearing against the cap, a pawl pivoted in a slot BENJAMIN MARTZ 0n the end of the spindle and adapted to en- Witnesses: gage the ratchet-teeth, cross-arms secured on SAMUEL G. NORCROSS,

the spindle, and cutter-blades carried by the S. O. HAYES. 

